Starting a computer repair business
“This is the worst and most dishonest business of any kind that I have ever patronized.”
“If I could give this business lesser than one star, I would give it to this place for sure!”
Your customers will always have an opinion about anything. And unless your business is infallible, you will stumble over a bad review at some point. The Internet has given customers a voice that can be “heard” all over the world, like never before. It also gives your customers a chance to interact with your potential clients. They can write about how happy they are with the service. Or leave a scathing review that can deal serious damage to your business. But how should you face online bad reviews?
When a bad review does come your way, the most natural reaction is wanting to remove it. This urge is especially strong if you feel that your business is not at fault. But this approach is ineffective, because it doesn’t go into the root of the issue. Most of the time, the bad review is not the problem. It’s the result of a problem you had with your customer’s expectations. So to get to the bottom of a bad review means to focus on what caused it.
Respond as a Business Owner
Responding to an online bad review gives you a chance to have your side heard. And when you strongly feel that the bad review is baseless, it’s understandable if you would want to challenge the person and invoke an all-out word war. However, that’s a surefire way to increase the damage to your business. The best response is to put on your business cap, keep a cool head at all times, and be professional.
Responding as a business owner means to not respond defensively, and to not make excuses to pass the blame onto others. And professionalism means not to take the issue personally. This should be evident in the words you use. For example, a customer posted that a computer repair shop lost his power charger. The actual response of the business owner shows a classic case of attacking the customer at a personal level.
“Dishonest customers are the worst… We gave him $$ discount but I guess it wasn’t enough he want us to give him a free charger too…His service invoice was clearly marked no power charger at time of check in.”
And the customer responded with, “Find the security video and prove me wrong.” Which doesn’t really solve anything. And calling your customer dishonest is a personal attack. Wouldn’t it have been more professional if the response only focused on the issue and went something like:
